He Was Just Having a Bad Day
by icerocks
Summary: Jack was having a bad day. For as long as he could remember, Jack had been having bad days one after another. But once Jack met the Mercers, he found out that not every day had to be a bad one.  Warning: Child Abuse. No Pairings.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

Hi everyone, just wanted to try out this idea that I have had for a while, so let me know if I should continue this story or start over and try something new. Sorry, I know it's little short

Thanks,

-icerocks

The first thing Jack noticed when he woke up was the pain. The searing, blinding pain that shot through his entire body as he tried to hoist himself off of the ground. It started at his feet and engulfed his entire body like a flame, swirling inside of head to the point where he had to concentrate hard just to keep himself conscious. His aching arms were tingling from lack of blood, as his hands had been bound behind his back the entire time. The door upstairs slammed open and his thoughts drifted to the night before.

- The night before-

_"Boy, get down here! I want you to meet a friend of mine.", Hollered a greasy man of around 40 or 50. The man turned to his friend who was, if possible, more shady and greasy then himself. "Sorry Jim, the stupid brat is taking forever. I'll go get him." _

_"Don't worry about Dave, as long as I get my service in the end. Same deal as last time?"_

_"Yep, you get 4 hours, but this time don't scam me. I want what I'm paying for. Let me go get him, and try not to make as big of a mess this time."_

_The man identified as Dave stormed up the stairs towards a room where a little boy was huddled under the bed. The little boy had been hiding at the base of the stairs until he heard the conversation, and then he had raced to his room, buried himself under the bed and started shaking. "Please forgot about me. Please don't find me. Please Please Please.", The frightened boy thought. He was huddled under the bed and curled into an even tighter ball as the door slammed open._

_"Get out here boy! Stop your stupid whining and bitching! Don't make me repeat myself!" _

_The boy continued to shake under the bed._

_"I know your in there! Now your going to get it!"_

_A cry escaped the boy's lips as a rough hand curled around his ankle and yanked him out, and a slam was heard as his head was violently whipped into the bed frame. The bruised boy was tossed into a nearby wall where he hit the ground, and attempted to lift himself up so he could run._

_"Don't ever try and hide from me again, you little bitch!"_

_"Im s s s sorry, i d d didn't mean t t to!" _

_The larger man grabbed the boy's light hair and began to drag him down the hall. The boy struggled, but could not do much against the much older and stronger man. At the end of the hall the man stopped at closet and grabbed some rope, and a nasty snarl painted his face._

_"This will teach you to struggle from me.", spat out the man._

_He than pinned the boys arms behind his back and tightly fastened them together. He proceeded to drag the boy down the first set of stairs to where the other man was waiting near the basement, and tossed the crying boy down the stairs where he landed with a thump, and was still._

_"Sorry it took so long Jim. The brat was annoying me. Keep him as long as you like tonight, on me."_

_"It's all right mate, Jack's a sweetie once you get to know him."_

_Both men chuckled. Jim__ took out a brown paper bag and passed it to Dave, who accepted it with a grin. After the exchange, he continued down the stairs and the door was shut._

_- _Present time in story ( Jack's POV)_-_

Yelling upstairs and footsteps storming down the hall brought Jack back to reality again, and he began to panic.

"Not again! No no no no no, Please no more! I can't take another so soon, please god, just let me die!" the boy thought.

Jack brought his scrawny legs together and pushed himself into the corner, willing himself to just disappear. The racing footsteps got closer to the bottom and he began to shudder violently. Suddenly, the door slammed open and bright light flooded Jack's eye's in a giant wave. Fear clawed it's way through Jack like a wild beast, ripping and tearing it's way through ever shred of courage, bravery and dignity that Jack had left.

Jack didn't see the confused and horrified faces of the police team staring at him in confusion, all he saw were two possible enemies, two people who could hurt him, two people that wanted to hurt him. Jack didn't see a gentle hand reaching out to try and calm him, he saw the claw of a monster reaching out to rip him, claw him, scratch him. Overwhelmed with fear, Jack pushed himself further into the corner, as if trying to become one with the wall. He ignored the agonizing pain that shot through his body, he ignored the pain running through his arms and legs and he ignored the terrible throbbing in his head.

"Please! Please!", He wailed, "Don't hurt me! I'm sorry, I'm sorry, please don't hurt me. I'll be a good boy, just don't touch me, I didn't do anything wrong, don't hit me!"

One last please was the only thing that escaped from his lips before a blanket of darkness descended upon him.

- A few hours before-

Captain John Lewis was having a great week. In fact, Captain John Lewis was having a fantastic week. Monday started off with a wonderful promotion, the plate on his desk that read _Sergeant Lewis _had finally been replaced with _Captain Lewis. _Along with this promotion came a hefty bonus, and to top it all of his recently wed wife had announced her pregnancy with twins. He hadn't thought his week could get any better until he was assigned the leading position on a police raid, one that they had been preparing for months.

Him and his team were set to invade the residence of a Dave E. Fuller at 9:00 am, and his new Captain position was resting hard on the fact that the raid would be successful. Dave Fuller was wanted all across the county for drug possession, drug distribution, and possession of unregistered weapons and firearms. This drug bust would cripple the distribution of drugs all across the city of Detroit , and would be a great victory to the police department.

At 5:00 am, his team was assembled and briefed on all the parameters and objectives of the mission. He hand picked the team himself, and expected nothing short of perfection. He wasn't worried about the two rookies added to his squad, they had passed the academy with flying colors.

By 7:00, his team was packed and ready to go.

"Listen up men, we have a very important raid today and I expect nothing short of perfection. In two hours we invade the home of Dave E. Fuller, and I want you prepared for anything you might find. Frankie and Abel, you two will enter the home from the rear entrance while Sam, Ben and I bust open the front door. Hey, newbies!", shouted Captain Lewis.

"Yes sir?", responded the recently added members of the squad, Jamie and Tucker.

"You two will cover the basement. As soon as we bust in, we secure the resident first while clearing out all of the other rooms. Does anyone else live with this man?"

"He record were strangely empty sir, it says he was in charge of a foster child, but the records haven't been updated in years.", Responded Sergeant Frankie, his second in command.

"We won't worry about that right now. Everyone ready? Good, lets roll out."

-At the Fuller household-

At precisely 9:00 am, the doors of the Fuller household were violently ripped from their hinges and from every entrance members of the Detroit city police department stormed in like bulls on a rampage. Dave Fuller was making a cup of coffee when he heard the ear-splitting shouts of the police that were storming his home.

"FREEZE! GET ON THE GROUND! YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO REMAIN SILENT!"

A freshly brewed cup of decaf coffee dropped to the floor as the criminal who was drinking it was thrown down and cuffed. Sticky brown liquid and shards of glass coated the floor, but no one was there to clean it up as Dave Fuller was hauled into a waiting police cruiser. Officers Frankie and Abel stormed up the stairs while Officers Ben and Sam covered all the ground floor rooms. The two rookies stormed down the stairs, eager to complete their fist assignment and please Sergeant Lewis.

They thundered down the stairs of the dark and dirty basement and the sight of a worn out room awaited them. There were a couple of tables and chairs along with a sofa and tv, and a dirty mattress sat in the corner stained with what appeared to be blood. No body appeared to be in the basement, but Tucker and Jamie cautiously approached a closet hidden in the corner anyway.

They were expecting to find it empty, except for maybe a broom or vacuum cleaner, possible an old pair of shoes or soccer ball. They were not expecting to find a shivering little boy huddled in the corner. Because they were not expecting this, they were not prepared for the boy to shriek and scream as Jamie extended an arm to free the boy from his bind. They were not expecting the little boy to jump and throw himself so hard back into the wall that he knocked himself unconscious. They were not expecting any of this, and you could tell by the shock that painted their faces as they tried to comprehend what they had just witnessed.

-Present time in story-

Captain Lewis was having a good day. In fact, Captain Lewis was having a fantastic day. His first raid as Number one in command was going so smooth it had him worried, but he was the best, his team was the best, and he expected this mission to be nothing but the best. The initial confrontation had gone perfectly, and Fuller had been successfully detained and sent back in to the station. His team was currently searching the house and bagging any evidence they could gather. All of the members of his team had reported back, except for the rookies.

"What in the hell is taking them so long?", He thought. An uneasy feeling began to bubble in his stomach, and his instincts honed from years of active service left him ill at east. "I better go check and see what on earth is taking them so long."

A slight pace towards the basement turned into a fast gait, which then shifted into a frantic sprint down the stairs as his nerves got the better of him.

"Okay, nothing to worry about, I'm sure Tucker and Jamie are just dawdling"

As he stormed down the stairs the first sight that greeted him were the uniformed backs of the rookies who were gazing into a far closet, faces painted with disgust and worry. His dread continued to multiply until he reached the closet and took a peek inside. What he found inside confirmed as of his growing worry, and his gut hit the floor.

"JESUS CHRIST! WHAT IN THE HELL ARE YOU DOING, GOD DAMMIT! GO GET ME AN AMBULANCE RIGHT NOW! HURRY, YOU IDIOTS, WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR, GO!", bellowed the captain.

As the rookies sprinted back up the stairs, Captain Lewis tried to comprehend what he was seeing. A pale, skinny mess of a child was slumped in the corner with his arms tied at an awkward angle behind his back, and his entire body was covered in blood. His light, shaggy hair was matted with blood and bruises were beginning to appear at his hair line. His left eye was black and blue, and completely swollen shut. The bruises continued past his jawline and covered his entire body. Large, bloody red welts covered his entire back and a few gashes cold be seen along his chest.

As the Captain's eye began to drift down, his stomach lurched and everything the Captain had eaten threatened to come right up. For the first time since he discovered the poor child in the closet, he realized that the small little boy was completely naked. The realization of the situation hit him full force as he noticed the dried blood in between the boy's legs, he stomach lurched as all the signs became clear. He noticed the bruises that littered the boys upper thighs, and the rough hand-shaped bruises that wrapped around his narrow hips. He was sickened even further by the dry, white substance that coated the fragile child's inner thighs.

The blood that continued to drip down the boy's legs helped the Captain focus on the situation, and he gingerly lifted the tiny child out of the closet while being mindful not to jar the boy's damaged arms and shoulders. Upon placing the child on the ground, he carefully unbound the boy's hand while noticing the bruised mess around his shouder's, indicative of a bad dislocation. He wrapped his jacket around the boy shivering on the floor, and did his best to stabilize the child until the paramedic team arrived.

It was that point in time that Captain Lewis realized he was not having a good day. In fact, Captain Lewis realized he was having a less than fantastic day. Small tears began to drop down the Captain's eyes, and for the first time he was not ashamed of the wet splotches that painted the ground in front of him. He was mourning the loss of a child, not the child's life, but the child's once precious innocence that had been lost forever.

Thanks for reading! and please review if you want. Im not going to force you, because I hate it when authors withhold chapters unless they get a certain number of reviews. Thats stupid. If you want people to review your story, write a good one. Don't complain if you write a bad one and people don't want to review. On another note, reviews are nice to read though, hint hint. they make the author's world go round. enough of my hypocritical ranting, have a happy new year!

-icerocks


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

-Detroit city hospital-

Dr. Cameron Barnes was having a bad day. In fact, Dr. Cameron Barnes was having a horrible day. At exactly 9:30 am, after spending her entire night at the hospital working the graveyard shift she was about ready to call it quits and make her way to a cozy apartment, where she would snuggle up on the bed and sleep to her hearts content. Unfortunately, at exactly 9:30 as she had been making her escape to freedom, a paramedic crew had phoned in requesting preparation for an operating room where emergency surgery would be preformed to save the life of one Jack Damian Millers .

Severe internal bleeding had been diagnosed by the EMT's who had stabilized the boy on site, along with possible head trauma and several broken ribs. Dr. Cameron Barnes wanted nothing more than to just keep walking out that door, and let another surgeon step up in the spotlight. But she knew for a fact that there were no other doctors of her caliber available at the moment, and any wasted time oh her part decreased the likelihood of that patient making it through the night.

Dr. Cameron Barnes had once made an oath on her career to do every possible thing she could to save the life of another human being, and at Exactly 9:45, she put on her brave face, put on her rubber gloves, and set to work to fulfill her oath by saving the life of the boy that had made his way onto her operating table. After 5 hours and 45 minuets on the table, Jack Damian Fuller was stabilized and breathing. After 5 hours and 45 minuets, Dr. Cameron Barnes pulled off her surgical mask and gloves, took one look at the child in her care and was graced with a faint smile upon her lips.

She thanked all her lucky stars she had been on staff when the ambulance arrived, for none of the other doctors would have been able to handle the extent of the injuries inflicted upon the battered boy who was currently residing in room 243. One last glance was all she could spare before exhaustion took over her body and she collapsed into the waiting room chair so conveniently placed beside her.

-Detroit Social Services Department-

"Jon, what do mean you might have made a mistake with the placement of Jack?", shouted Vanessa Hutchinson, Head of the Children's Social Services branch located in Detroit, "You told me you set him up in a very nice home with David E. Fuller, whom I assumed you took the proper background measures with. I also trusted you, you said he was as old friend of yours and that you would handle all the checkups with Jack. We haven't heard anything bad the whole year and a half he'd been there so i ASSUMED everything was going great!"

"Vanessa, calm down alright! It wasn't my fault! I didn't realize Dave was stupid enough to take his whole drug thing up a notch and terrorize the whole city of Detroit! It's not my fault he got arrested." responded the man named Jon.

"JON! ARE YOU KIDDING ME? His guardian was arrested for Christ's sake? AND WHAT MADE YOU THINK IT WAS A GOOD IDEA TO MAKE A DRUGGIE A FOSTER FATHER? That takes every precaution and rule we have and sends it down the drain! This is a SERIOUS issue! We could get sued, you could, and SHOULD lose your job, and not to mention it makes me look TERRIBLE!", ranted the furious Vanessa.

"I'm sorry! Dave told me he wanted to take on some responsibility in his life, so I figured this was the best way to do it. It's not like the brat fit in anywhere else anyway, I'm sure he was being really annoying and that's why Dave snapped and put him in the hospital. The same thing happened in all the other places we tried him so it has to be the kids fault 's not a big deal." Retorted Jon.

An long and tense gap followed that last sentence, until Vanessa's screams pierced through the silence, shattering it into a million pieces.

" ARE YOU FREAKING SERIOUS? Jon, please tell me your kidding. Please tell me the kid is okay, and that you did not send him into another abusive household. AND DON'T YOU DARE SAY THIS IS NOT A BIG DEAL! THIS CHILD JUST TURNED 10 TODAY AND HAS SPENT HIS ENTIRE LIFE BEING SHUFFLED FROM ONE ABUSIVE HOUSEHOLD TO ANOTHER! You obviously do not care about him as much as I do, so I would go so far as to say you did this on purpose! I'm sorry Jon, I'm going to have to report you. You sure as hell are saying good-bye to you career, and you'll be lucky if the abuse and neglect charges don't carry onto you!"

Jon was taken into custody and small tears began to torrent out of Vanessa's eyes as she stormed out her office, slamming the door behind her. Co-workers jumped away from the storming incarnation of fury, as she stomped out the building and into the cold Michigan air. Her tears began to flow like a river, and she curled her arms around her body as she remembered the first time she had met Jack.

_Heel's clicked across the linoleum floor as Vanessa Hutchinson made her way across the busy intersection, pocketing her phone as she went. She had just received a call concerning one Jack D. Millers, who had been removed from the custody of his father and was currently waiting in her office with her long time friend a co-worker, Jonathan Daniels. Pushing through the crowd and past the revolving doors of Detroit Social services, Vanessa waved to the secretary before stepping into the mirror lined elevator that was heading towards the seventh floor. While gazing at her reflection, her thoughts drifted to the boy she would be meeting in a couple of meeting in a few minuets._

_ She had been told Jack's father had been put under investigation when a first grade teacher had phoned in reporting possible abuse of a child who missed a lot of school, and would came in everyday with a strange assortments of bruises, most of them hidden under sleeves but a few poking out on his neck, and around his hairline. She also reported that the child was very skinny and never brought in a lunch nor money to but one, and constantly had large purple bags under his eyes. The father denied all claims, and before adequate evidence could be gathered against him, he packed his bags and left. The child's mother had died while he was little, so he had no one to take care of him besides his father._

_She had also been told that after missing school for four days in a few, Social Services was sent to his house. They found him sitting in the floor in his father's closet because "Daddy" had told him to "Stay here until I come and get you, you were a bad boy and need to be punished." The child had fought tooth and nail against leaving the house, sobbing "Daddy told me stay here! I need to be good! Please don't make me leave, I don't want Daddy to be mad!" The elevator door opened, and Vanessa pushed a stray brown hair behind her head before straightening her blouse and heading the meet the child._

_She pushed open the office door, while meeting the eyes of her friend Jon who was sitting in a chair with a pale, tiny boy sitting right next to him._

_"Thanks Jon, I'll handle it from here." was her only reply before the tall man left the room and she dropped on her knees, meeting the child's eye level. In the spit second that their eyes met before the child's head dropped, an overwhelming amount of fear and desperation passed from shaky blue eyes into steady, smoothing brown ones. Shaggy, light hair fell in front of the boy's stunning, blue eyes as he stared at the floor and began to twiddle his thumbs._

_"Hello sweetie, My names Vanessa. Whats yours?"_

_"J-J-Jack.", murmured the boy in an almost incomprehensible voice._

_Vanessa frowned, and replied, "Your going to have to speak up honey. Jack, was it?_

_"Yes." he murmured again, but slightly louder, still intently gazing at a speck on the floor._

_"Thats better. Do you know why you are here, honey?_

_"Daddy sent me here as punishment, didn't he? He doesn't want me anymore because I was bad." Jack continued on in a shaky voice, while starting to sob. " I knew it! H-H-He told me mommy didn't want me anymore s-s-s-so that's why she left. Why did you make me leave!" The sobbing boy began to hiccup. "D-D-Daddy told me to stay and I didn't so he's not coming back! He's s-s-s-so so mad at me!"_

_Shiny droplets of the boy's astounding sorrow began to drip out of his lifeless eyes as he began to sob and shake even more. Vanessa wrapped her arms around the boy and held on to him for dear life, crying for the little boy as she did. He flinched away from her original touch, but sank into her embrace as he felt the warmth and protection practically radiating off of her. She kept a tight hold on the child and they sat together for hours, as she rocked the boy on her lap and he began to finally tire out and calm down. _

_After Jack had depleted himself of all the negative emotions he had been feeling at the time, he quickly drifted off into a deep, but uneasy sleep. Vanessa stroked the boy's hair while gazing down at his peaceful face, while at the same time contemplating her next course of action_

-Back at the hospital-

Brightly colored and loud memories swirled around in Jack's head until a sudden bright light rippled his dreams like a stone thrown into a pond, and all of the colors began to circle and mesh together before fading with a sudden burst. Jack woke up suddenly, remembering being stuck in a closet before jerking his body around and at the same time screaming like a banshee. It took 3 nurses pinning him down a a shot of morphine to clam him down enough so he would be in danger of ripping out his stitches.

A cloud of haze was blocking Jack's vision, all her could see were blurry outlines and distant colors. He could however feel just find, and he felt foreign hands all over his body and he began to panic from the sense of hopelessness he was currently feeling. His eyes shut tight as memories from the night before began to surface, fresh in his mind.

_He could feel a strong grip on his neck as his body was scooped off of the floor and flung onto the mattress in the corner._

_Hot disgusting breath drifted across his face before unfamiliar lips forced their way onto his, smothering and suffocating him. _

_Sharp pain across his neck as the brutal mouth drifted down and bit hard into his shoulder ._

_Filthy hands caressing his body, going down, down, down._

_Slipping past his waistline and under the elastic of his pants._

"JACK! JACK, YOU HAVE TO LISTEN TO ME! LISTEN TO MY VOICE!" ,cried out a familiar voice that Jack just couldn't quite place.

"That voice seems familiar." He thought, and a warm tingle raced down his body.

mind"WAKE UP JACK! YOU HAVE TO WAKE UP!"

Memories of a soft embrace and soothing words echoed throughout his mind, and a name jumped to the forefront. Arms wrapped around his body brought him back to reality.

"Vanessa!" he cried, while at the same time snapping his eyes open and burying his face into the sole source of his comfort. Silky hair caressed his cheek as the women holding on to him buried her face in his neck while sobbing uncontrollably. He could not return the gesture, as his body was so tightly wrapped in bandages he could barely move a muscle. His vision began to clear, and he looked up, meeting the eyes of the lady clinging on to him for dear life. Brilliant but dull blue eyes met with chocolate colored eyes gleaming with worry, and small tears began to slip out.

A faint smile upon the familiar face in front of him was all he could catch before the pain and exhaustion of his situation sent him back under again.

I feel like I stopped at a bad point in the story, sorry. Oh well. It's late, I'm tired and don't feel like finishing this right now. I hope you enjoy what i did manage to get down, aha. Review if you have any suggestions and if you see any grammatical or spelling errors.

Thanks!

-icerocks


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

When Jack finally fell asleep, albeit peacefully this time, Vanessa Hutchinson let out a sigh. Anyone watching at the time would tell you it was a sigh of relief, but the 28 year old women was anything but relieved. Her baby Jack was precious to her, and out of all the foster kids she had set up Jack held the closest spot to her heart. She had always tried her hardest to place him in the best homes possible, so she had assigned him as a personal case to her follow worker, and close friend Jonathan Daniels.

Her heart had been broken when she heard that Jon had not done his job, and that he was part of the reason that Jack was in the hospital right now. She felt that it was unforgivable that Jon had not taken the utmost care with Jack, and had knowingly put him in a home with a possibly abusive foster parent. No remorse even crossed her mind as she stamped the papers authorizing the negelct charges that were now being placed onto Jon.

She did not regret choosing Jack over her long time friend, because she had chosen a career in order to help children in need. It sickened her that people were willing to lay a hand down on a mere child, but it sickened her even more to learn her friend Jon had turned a blind eye and allowed it to occur.

In the midst of all her thinking Vanessa couldn't quite block out the guilt bubbling deep inside her. She realized that she should have taken a tighter grasp on Jack's situation, and felt partly responsible for the condition he was in. But the guilt that was bubbling like a spring was quickly replaced by a surging wave of commitment and duty she knew that she owed the boy and was obligated to give to him. Brushing a stray lock of hair from the gently sleeping angel's peaceful face, Vanessa Hutchinson decided she was going to give Evelyn Mercer a call.

-Mercer Household-

Evelyn Mercer was having a bad day. The week before she had been set up with a foster child that the system was hoping she could mold into a functioning member of society. Evelyn had prided herself with never turning down a case, and always doing the best she could to help out all of the people she could. Evelyn Mercer had handled the toughest cases so far, as Bobby, Jeremiah and Angel had had been labeled lost causes and they had turned out just fine. She figured the new boy Sean would be nothing she couldn't handle.

When Bobby had been younger, he was always getting into trouble and Evelyn did the best she could to keep him in school and out of legal trouble. Sean was like a younger and angrier version of Bobby, and the two had not been getting along well in the house. The difference between Bobby and Sean was that Bobby would never have dreamed of disrespecting the women who gave him a home and never even considered stealing from her.

Sean was more than a handful, and was doing things that none of the Mercer boys would stand in their Ma's home. Yelling at her, stealing from her, and bringing drugs into her home was putting Sean on a short fuse with Bobby. Bobby stepped up and told Sean that "Anymore disrespectful shit with my Ma, and you'll be outta this house faster than you can say "why". When Sean was caught stealing and had drugs in his possesion he was arrested. The new charges combined with his past offenses landed him a spot in a Juvienille detention where he would remain imprisoned untill his 18th birthday.

Evelyn was upset that she could not help the boy, but she did realize that some things were just out of her reach. Evelyn Mercer was bringing a steaming cup of coffee to her lips when her thoughts were interrupted by a loud ringing that was coming from the telephone on the kitchen counter. She was about to lift her aching body out of the warm kitchen chair when a gentle hand rested on her shoulders. Her watchfull eyes drifted up to meet the short and stocky figure of the eldest Mercer boy.

"Don't worry Ma, I'll get it" replied the man as he walked the short distance between the counter and kitchen table. "Hello?"

"Hello? Hi, this is Vanessa Hutchinson from social services. Is Evelyn around? This must be Bobby! Evelyn has told me all about you over the years." replied a silky smooth voice on the other line.

"Sure, I'll go get her. And I hope Ma hasn't told you everything about me", Bobby chuckled, as the phone was passed from strong, calloused hands to the much daintier and wrinkled hands of Evelyn Mercer.

"Hello Vanessa" spoke Evelyn for the first time. "Hold on a sec." Evelyn lowered the phone before she turned to talk to Bobby, "Bobby? Do you think you could give me a minute? This is an important call."

"Sure Ma, I was just coming down to grab a beer." The Stocky man pulled open the fridge and reached for a six pack before lumbering out of the kitchen and returning to the room he came from.

Evelyn shook her head at Bobby's antics before continuing her conversation with Vanessa. "It's a little late for a call tonight don't you think? What's the matter dear, is there an emergency?"

"Not a dire situation, no, but I did call to see if you could do me a favor. There's this boy who..."

"Vanessa," Interrupted Evelyn, "You know I had a tough time with the last boy you sent me. It seems a little soon for me to be taking in another one" Evelyns eyes tightened slghtly as she realized what Vanessa was asking.

"I know Evelyn, but Sean was a rare case. And I didn't expect him to stay out of trouble long, he would have split after his 18th birthday anyway. The child that I am trying to find a home for is very special to me. He just turned 10 and he's already been through 5 or 6 houses and all of them showed signs of severe abuse against the child, but he would never say anything so we could never get him to testify. His name is Jack Millers. We dropped his surname Fuller when he was recently removed from that home."

Evelyn's eyes softened as she heard the poor child's situation. "How bad was it?", she asked.

"It was bad. Really, Really bad. You should see the poor child. He refuses to tell us exactly what happended, so we aren't even sure of everything that was done to him. I was hoping that after a while in a stable home he would begin to open up."

The maternal instinct withen Evelyn that drove her to raise and conquer the 3 Mercer boy's was rising to the surface. "How can I refuse now?. I'd be happy to take him, but I need to know when so I can start preparing his room and the like."

"That's fantastic!", Beamed Vanessa. She was so happy that her little boy might finally have a chance to have a normal life in a normal home. "He should be realesed from the hospital in a few day. This means a lot to me, Evelyn, thank you. I'm not so sure that Jack could handle another abusive home, he's been through so many horrible situations. I'll drop him off in a few days. And again, thank you so much. you don't know how much this means to me."

As Vanessa was hanging up, Evelyn could feel the relief and gratitude pouring out of Vanessa. "No problem dear, and trust me, I understand. Bye-bye!"

A slight click reverberated across the kitchen before silence regained it's hold on the Mercer Household. Evelyn was slightly worried about what she had agreed to, but her worry was canceled out by the desire to protect the boy named Jack that Vanessa had told her about. If there was one thing Evelyn Mercer enjoyed, it was the thrill of a challange. And something in her gut was telling her that little Jackie Millers was going to be a challenge.

Thanks for reading! i know this chapter was disgustingly short, but i wanted to cover the section about Evelyn's reaction without including Jack. Im sorry if the characters are a little oc, but i have my reasons. Also, how do you think about the character vanessa? I keep adding points of view from other people in the story, but if you want less of those and more about the main characters just tell me. I have a part planned for Jack so don't worry, but it didn't fit as well here as it would in it's own chapter. Review is you want and make my day!

ps: if anyone is interested in being my beta reader, send me a message! i'd appreciate it!

-icerox


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

Vanessa Hutchinson had been having a bad couple of days. Jack Millers had also been having a bad couple of days. As Jack contemplated this fact, he realized that it was a sorry understatement, but chose to ignore the nagging voice of self pity that trying to emerge from his weakened body. He did, in fact have an appearance to keep up, and he did not want Vanessa worrying more than she had to. He knew he had always been a burden and hated seeing his Idol figure fret so much about him. Jack told himself he wasn't worth the time, never had been.

It had taken ages for Vanessa to convince him that she did, actually like him and wasn't being forced or paid to care about him and that confused him real bad. Little did he know that Vanessa would give the world to him if she could, and he was having trouble understanding the fact that ,yes, their were people out there who did not want to make his life a living hell. He had woken up earlier than expected and had caught Vanessa storming around the room with an expression of rage making her face almost unrecognizable, and had immediately assumed the worst.

His heart dropped as he tried to figure out what was making her so angry. "I guess she's mad that I'm taking up so much of her time again.", he thought.

No matter how many times she had tried to convince him otherwise, there was still a part of Jack that found it hard to realize that he deserved love just as much as anyone else. He had been beat down his own life, told he was worthless, and a mistake. No matter how many times he had tried to resist, when someone hears something enough times they begin to believe it, and Jack had been told he was worthless more than enough to make it feel true.

Jack didn't know why Vanessa was angry, and didn't have the courage to ask her. He didn't know that the doctors had withheld his records from her, and were not telling her the true extent of his damage. Dr. Barnes had only informed her that Jack was in stable condition and had broken a few bones, refusing her further questions because of "Doctor Patient Confidentiality".

Dr. Barnes had been comprehensive about hiding all of Jack's injuries, but knew it was not her place to tell. That was the standard for "situations" such as these ones, but she hoped the boy would eventually open up to the women who obviously cared so much about him.

A slight movement in the edge of her vision was the first thing that warned her Jack had awakened, and she was unprepared to find that distant look in his eyes staring into her own.

"Jack, honey?", whispered Vanessa.

Their eyes were locked, blue on brown, and the innate stubbornness imbedded deep within both was refusing to back down. As the seconds, and then minutes passed bye, Jack's hold began to waver.

"Jack, honey? are you okay?", Vanessa whispered again.

An internal battle was waging inside Jack. He wanted to be okay, he knew he had to be okay only so Vanessa would stop her worrying. His stable facade was slipping, the truth of his situation was weighing down his subconscious. No matter how hard his ice blue eyes were trying to build up a wall of indifference, the brown ones were slowly breaking through the cracks. Like a virus, eating away at the very foundation holding his mental stability together.

Vanessa watched as his eyes began to tremble, as unshed tears pooled on the surface like a thin film. Like a mirror, he tried to reflect her intense scrutinization away from himself. He knew, and she knew, that he would break eventally. That his cold persona would give way to the frightened boy she had witnessed the day before. He knew. She knew. He knew she knew, and his fear of exposure led him to drop his eyes to the ground. Everyone who had witnessed him at his very low had despised and rejected him, and he couldn't take being rejected by the only slightly good thing in his life.

Jack adored Vanessa and the way that she appeared to care for him, even if he thought it wouldn't last. But Jack hated the way that Vanessa could worm her way into his feelings, and his heart. Jack had never really had a positive relationship with anyone in his life, and everyone he knew had turned on him eventually. Everyone that found their way into his heart eventually broke it as well. He wanted to trust Vanessa, but his primal fear of rejection had been warped into a fear of commitment, and Jack's shattered heart was too busy trying to piece itself back up to open completely at the moment.

The tension in the room was immediate, thick enough to slice with a blade. The ticking of the clock echoed softly around the room, and Jacks labored breathing became more obvious. Vanessa could see the boy struggling to accept her, and she could sense the battle he was going through. She wanted him to trust her, but not by force but by choice.

"I set you up with a friend of mine for the time being Jack, the doctors said you could leave in a few hours. I'll be back in a few hours to take you to Evelyn's.", Vanessa softly spoke, and with a slight air of dejection. She walked out of the room with her head held low, disappointed with Jack's obvious apprehension and distrust.

"That shouldn't happen," she thought angrily, "He shouldn't have to doubt his trust for a women who has never done anything to harm him. What could have caused his heart to lock itself up so tight and throw away the key?" She knew that he had been abused and neglected, but she never got to see him until he left the hospital and had not been given the exact hospital records because she had trusted Jon with the job. She also had not seen him in quite a few years, she had promised herself that she would not hold him back.

She continued out of hallway, past the waiting room and into the lobby. Seeing the same doctor she had talked to about Jack scurry bye, head down and slightly blushing under her intense gaze, some negative feeling were stirred up inside her. They were more aimed at the doctor, but as she continued on outside the hospital into the freezing cold they began to drift.

Vanessa had never been hurt in the same way as Jack, so she could never really rationalize with his distrusting and dissociative behavior. A small part of her was offended that she could not gain his trust, even after years of trying. Vanessa had always been perfect, she had a perfect loving family, stable household, perfect grades, perfect career, perfect job and perfect boyfriend. Vanessa was truly a sweet person to the core, and cared deeply about Jack, but rejection was something new to her.

"Hopefully," she thought, "Evelyn will reach him where I can not."

Even as she thought this, some small, selfish part of her was wishing Evelyn could not, if only so she could first. She quickly dismissed this thought, horrified she would even consider something like that.

"He deserves more"

And every part of her believed it.

-Jacks POV-

After Vanessa left his room, the tension shattered along with his self-control. He had been staring intently at the floor, but his eyes squeezed shut as soon as the sole remaining witness left the room. Tears that had been stirring in his eyes began to travel down his face as he no longer had the self control to keep his mask on. Jack hurt inside, but Jack hurt even more when Vanessa was hurting and he believed himself to be the casue. He tried to tell himself in vain that she thought he was okay, that he completely fooled her but it's hard to lie to yourself.

The intensity in her gaze had told him she knew he was hurting, as well as the emotion hidden within her silky voice. Another part of Jack was angry at her, and he resented himself immediately. He saw pity in her eyes, but he had always been one to confuse pity with disappointment. He was angry with the way he thought she saw him, he was angry that he couldn't tell if she was looking down at him or worrying about him.

He never had anyone worry about him, and always had people looking down at him. And the slight self-confidence he had been born with had been beaten so far into submission he could no longer find the motivation to stick up for himself. He wanted to speak up, look her in the eyes and say,

"Don't look at me like that, I don't want or need your concern."

He knew he secretly longed for anyone's concern, and secondly he would never speak to Vanessa like that. Another part of him, the rational side, was fighting for control. When his anger had finally subsided, he realized that he was taking his hurt and turning it into something worse. He immidiatly regreted all the mean things he had thought about Vanessa.

He was stuck in an emotional whirlwind, and his wildly swinging mood was the only way he knew how to cope at the moment. When he finally calmed completly down, he only just remembered that Vanessa said she would be back to take him to his new home. THe next hour and a half was spent re-building his fragile self control, and he steeled himself for the inevitable meeting that was sure to come before the day had reached it's end.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

**Note: I have not abandoned this story, sorry if you thought that. Sorry this took so long, you know how it is. School, family friends. The only free time I really have is on the weekends, plus I have to take care of my sick brother. Enjoy!**

**Btw: The ages of the brothers in this story are a little different, and younger than the movie:**

**Bobby: 25, Does not live with Evelyn.**

**Jeremiah: 19, Lives with Evelyn but is making plans to move in with his girlfriend**

**Angel: 16, lives with Evelyn**

**I'm also sorry if most of this chapter is dialouge, there was a lot to be said, haha.**

It was a cold, dreary, windy day when Vanessa slipped past the revolving doors and into the Detroit jungle. The weather was to be expected, thought any hardened Detroit veteran, and Vanessa was no exception. The freezing rain that whipped across her face did nothing to improve her already foul mood, and even though it wasn't even noon yet, the day's events were beginning to wear her out. For the first time in her twenty-someting years of life, Vanessa Hutchinson was feeling old. And Vanessa Hutchinson did not like feeling old.

"I guess I should call Evelyn," She thought, "make sure everything is prepared for Jack to arrive."

As she unlocked and entered her Chevy Suburban, she pulled her Blackberry out of her purse and by the time she was pulling out of the parking garage Evelyn Mercer's number had already been dialed.

"Hello?", answered a soothing voice.

"It's me, Evelyn. I just visited Jack in the hospital and he should be ready to go in about an hour. I have to run by the office real quick to pick up some things before I swing back around to drop him off."

Vanessa's silver Chevy weaved amongst the detriot traffic as she made her way back to her office.

-At the Mercer house-

"No problem Dear, I just had Bobby finish setting up his room. Thank Goodness Bobby finally moved out, or I wouldn't have had a place to put to put Jack."

Bobby poked his head around the corner, "Come on Ma! I know you miss me!

Evelyn lowered the phone, "Shoo! I'm on the phone, and this is important!" A faint smile graced her lips as she brought it back up. "That's fine, dear. Anytime is okay. I got all the boys to come back home so they can meet him, even Bobby is planning to stay for a little bit."

"That's good. Jack needs someone to talk to, and he won't open up to me. Maybe a big brother is just what he needs."

"Well that would be great!", chuckled Evelyn, "Becasue he's got three right here!"

"I'll drop him off soon. Bye."

"Bye, sweetie."

Evelyn put to phone down. A large bump followed by a bellowed, "FUCK! Angel, what the HELL?" echoed in the house.

"Bobby Mercer! Language!", scolded Evelyn, "We are having a new guest coming to the house today, try to not make a bad impression!"

"Sorry, Ma. Angel here thought it would a good idea to leave his box of shit in the hallway. I stubbed my toe."

Two young men thundered down the stairway, one short and stocky and the other taller with a medium build.

"It's not my fault Bobby was too dumb to see the large box that was clearly right there, besides, I was about to move it." Responded the dark skinned male.

"It wasn't there before! You moved it!"

"Did not! Not my fault the great Bobby Mercer got surprise attacked by a box!"

"Shut it!" Bobby pounced on Angel and the two began to roll around on the floor. Another dark skinned male entered through the screen door, who was the tallest of the three. He shook his head at the two hooligans wrestling around and immediately walked over to the older lady shaking her head. He bent down and kissed her on the cheek.

"Sorry I was late, Ma. I was with Melissa. What on earth is with Bobby today, barley a few hours home and he's already making trouble. You said you needed me here today?"

"Thank goodness I have one responsible son in this house. And it's not Bobby. I wanted you to meet our new guest, Jack."

The two boys on the ground immediatly stood up. "Another one?" asked Angel, "Come on Ma! that last one was a joke."

"Yeah," joined in Jerry, "Are you sure you want another kid so soon? If he is anything like that last one he won't be staying for long."

"Don't worry about it boys, this one will be different. A favor from my friend Vanessa. And he's only 10, so we shouldn't have too many issues." assured Evelyn.

The boys still seemed skeptical, and Angel spoke up, "If you say so, Ma."

"If he's only 10 what could the little bugger do that 3 Mercer boys couldn't handle? I'm sure It'll be fine" responded Bobby.

"That's the spirit! Jer and Angel, could you go upstairs? I need to speak with Bobby.", asked Evelyn.

The two nodded and made their way upstairs, joking and pushing each other around. Bobby let out a sigh and dropped into the chair closest to his mother. He opened his mouth to crack a joke, but the dead serious look he rarely saw on Evelyn stopped him in his tracks. The oldest Mercer let out a sigh as well, before turning to face Bobby.

"Bobby, I wanted to have a serious talk about Jack with you. This is serious, and no matter how much I joke around I do trust you, and I know you can be mature. Sometimes." Evelyn chuckled at the look appearing on Bobby's face. "The boy that is coming has had a very tough life. He's been in the system since he was at least 5."

Bobby interupted, " Thats nothing, Ma! I was in the system untill I was 15! And Angel and Jer were both in the system at least that long. Im sure he'll turn out fine. We'll shape him into a Mercer in no time."

"You can't treat him the same as Angel and Jerry, Vanessa has told me some disturbing things about his past gaurdians. When he was just 6 he was removed from his father on charges of possible abuse and neglect, but packed up before they could nail him with anything. Vanessa had to remove him from all the following homes for all sorts of suspected abuse, but they couldn't charge anyone because Jack would never say anything. They never caught anything wrong until it was almost too late."

Bobby was quiet for a moment, contemplating what he had just heard. None of the brothers had been in an abusive household. One of Bobby's guardians had been excessive in his disciplinary actions, but even Bobby knew that he hadn't been the easiest of children. Angel's parents had basically just ignored him, but they had never laid a hand on him. And Jeremiah had problems with his foster brothers, but never his guardians.

Bobby couldn't understand why a person would let themselves suffer like that, he always complained at the first chance he got. He felt a little guilty, however, because he understood how lucky he was to end up with Evelyn.

Evelyn continued, "And that's not the worst part. A year and a half ago he was put in a decent home, and he was there a whole year and a half."

Bobby looked confused, "We'll than whats the problem? Why is he coming here?"

"Because for a year and a half, he was not in a decent home. For a year in a half he was in the home of a convicted drug dealer. He suffered severe emotional and physical abuse the entire time he was there. Withholding food and water was used as punishment, and he barley received enough nutrition to get by. Vanessa was upset about something else, but wouldn't tell me. Told me that Jack would have to tell me."

The room was quiet for a few minuets more, the horrible silence choking everyone in the room. Bobby tried to imagine what living like that for a whole year would be like, and could only compare it to a living hell. He felt sick as he imagined the poor boy must of thought they abandoned him. A whole year and half, no check-ups, no one bothering to see how he was. Truly isolated from the world, completely by himself.

"You don't have to worry Ma, Jack is going to part of this family if it's the last thing I do."

Bobby's sentence was cut short by an abrupt knock on the door.

"It must be Vanessa and Jack. Tell you brothers to stay upstairs untill I call them."

Evelyn gracefully lifted herself out of the chair, while Bobby thundered up the stairs to meet with his brothers. Time seemed to still as the kind old lady brought her hand up to the door knob. Her hands were laced with wrinkles accumulated from years of hard work, but their appearance did nothing to conceal the grace in which she handled them. Evelyn was confused for a moment, because she was met only with the face of Vanessa.

Chocolate colored eyes stared into Evelyn's, but they appeared to be slighlty red and puffy. Her eyes did not match the rest of her appearance, which was as neat and presentable as they come. Her silky hair lay flat on her head and her makeup was impeccable, straight from the pages of a Cover girl magazine add. Her Jacket was coordinated with her outfit, which trimmed her fit and curvy figure. Even her shoes and handbag went accordingly, adding to her perfect and angelic appearance.

After a moment, she stepped aside and Evelyn caught her first glimpse of the boy she was inviting into her home. This boys appearance was drastically different, the only similarity being the puffy rings around his crystal blue eyes. The young boy's light hair was shaggy and disheveled, desperately in need of a fresh cut. The colors on his face were not make-up like Vanessa, instead their were half healed bruises along his hair and jaw line. Another one on his cheek that was shaped suspiciously like a hand.

A hoody hid his neck from view, so Evelyn could not see that the horrid bruises continued along the rest of his body. His dark hoody was paired with a pair of Jeans, both were old and tattered, like they were hand me downs from another child. The bagginess of the clothing could not hide the size of the child, even with the deceptively large clothes he was unbelievably skinny. Evelyn noticed the signs of recovering malnutition, the hollowed out cheeks, baggy eyes, and dull hair. She couls also see the concave in his shirt where his stomach was, and his ribs and collar bones jutted out from his small body.

He caught her staring at his hands, and shoved them into his pockets while lowering his blushing face. She had seen the tiny wrists covered in dark bruises and healing cuts and could understand why he was so self conciosous of them.

Trying to ease the awkwardness of the situation, Evelyn spoke up, "Well. why don't we go inside and get you settled in. You can meet the other boys."

Jack was visibly shocked at the mention of other, older boys, and flinched violently when Vanessa put her hand on his shoulder. She gave him a second to recover before saying, "Jack, Honey, lets go inside."

It took a minute to get him to go into the house, and once he stepped into the door with small, unsure steps, Evelyn closed the door behind them. A loud bang echoed outside the house and was followed by a howl of wind trying to force its way into the home. Giving up for the time being, the fall winds ceased their attack and continued on their way, stirring up leaves and unsecured clothing as they made their rounds across the bustling city of Detroit.

Thanks for reading, and sorry again for the long time it took to update. The next chapter will be Jacks point of view in this situation.

Danke fürs Lesen!

-icerocks


	6. Chapter 6

**Hey guys, good to see you again. I know my updates now are much lenthier than originally, but I am only writing new chapters when i have a substantial amount of time. I also broke my hand in two places. Immidiatly after being punched in the face. I have great luck. So that means you better enjoy this, typing with one hand is a bitch. Im also dissapointed in the lack of reviews for my newer chapters, but hey, hopfully you people will come to your senses eventually. **

**This chapter starts out where chapter 4 leaves off, with Jack in the hospital.**

**Chapter 6:**

Tammy Winchester had been having a decent day. Fresh out of Med school, she had taken an internship with the Detroit Recieving Hospital-University Health Center and eventually worked her way into a full paid Nursing Job. Night Hours were a bitch, but if you put up with enough of them, they move you to the standard 9am to 9pm shift. Tammy had stayed a little later than usual and her nerves were a little frayed, but she still tackled her remaining duties with a passion unusual for one with so little sleep. Not even the rude lady who stormed out the waiting room could dampen her spirit, regardless of the fact she had almost bulldozed right through Tammy. She had managed to frighten the doctor into submission with a glance but Tammy was no pushover.

Little did Tammy know that the reason for Vanessa's unfounding rage sat quietly in the next room she was supposed to visit. Her orders were to visit patient 17092 in room 215, check the patients bandages, give the patient thier antibiotics, and a pain reliever along with a prescription. She hadn't seen patient 17092 yet, and hadn't seen the patients extensive charts. She was only treating the exterior flesh wounds and delivering antibiotics. For all she knew, he could of been in a car accident. Or mabye a fire.

The damage was pretty extensive, and the painkillers were a pretty strong dose so she figured it must be an adult who had been in a pretty bad accident. The doctor had warned her to be extra careful, and Tammy wondered if the scary lady earlier had been involved. "Probably a relative", she thought. When she walked into room 215 the first thing she noticed was the dead silence. Hospitals were naturally pretty quite, but this dread full, utter silence was usually reserved for the rooms of dying patients.

For the rooms of the terminaly ill, for the room of a patient who had sputtered a last breath, for the waiting room with an unlucky nurse informing a family that thier mother, thier father, thier sister, or brother, had not made it through the night. This silence was reserved for the dead, for the dying, or the patient soon to be. This complete lack of hope was not supposed to be stemming from the young child sitting uneasily in a corner on the room.

She shivered as she met cold, crystal, calculating blue eyes. Eyes she had only seen before on the dead, the dying, or the soon to be. Not on one 10 year old Jack Millers. The silence was broken as Tammy wheeled her cart slowly forward. Dread was quickly replaced by fear. As the cart squeaked closer to Jack, the fear was replaced by panic. Tammy jolted to a halt when patient 17092 shot backwards, clawing to create more distance.

(Jack POV)

Immidiatly after Vanessa left Jack had eased himself out of bed towards to clothes she had left in a bag. Small feet touched the cold linoleum floor, and shivers raced through Jack's fragile body. When Vanessa had been in the room, different emotions had swirled and eddied around his brain. Fear, hope, love and hate, anger, rage, terror and curiosity, had all battled for dominance. Jack had been confused for a while, but then dealt the way he had being his entire life.

He locked them away for the timea being because hiding was easier than facing things and Jack had been doing this his whole life. He took one small, unsteady step forward, and then one more before nausea threatend to overwhelm his entire body. His hand shot forward to grab something, anything that would keep his battered body from hitting the floor. He managed to get ahold of a bedside table just in time, but a shooting pain shot up his side warning him anymore sudden movements would definatly rip his stitches.

"This was probably a bad idea," he thought, but Jack refused to face the nurses wearing his hospital garb when his clothes were only a step away. 15 minuets, some stumbling, and a few curse words later and Jack was sitting in a corner on the opposite side of the room wearing his favorite (and only) jeans and hoody. Too tired to move back to the bed Jack decided to remain where he was untill a nurse, or Vanessa, returned. While he sat there he decided he would try to be brave for Vanessa, and thought about her until he drifted into a light sleep.

A half an hour later the turning of a knob awoke Jack from his troubled sleep. The last time he had heard a knob he had been immidiatly pulled out of bed an hurled down the stairs towards one of Dave's friends, and Jack could only associate the sound with fear as opposed to a nurse coming to help him. He didn't see the young, frozen Nurse approaching with caution but the hulking figure of his "father" promising him harm.

He was still caught up in his dream, and only snapped into reality when the shocked nurse asked hesitantly, "Excuse me, are you Jack? Honey, I just came in to bring you your pills. My name is Tammy, I'm a nurse here."

Heat flooded into his face as he realized what a performence he had just put on. Jack was not longer frightened, only hesitant and a little embarressed.

"I proimised to be strong for Vanessa," he remembered, "snap out of it. She's only a nurse."

He straigtened up, and rose to his feet. Blushing, and staring at the floor. he remained where he was until the nurse reached out with a little cup of pills and some water. Tammy scolded herself when she reached towards the boy too quickly, and he flinched, his eyes snapping towards hers with the look of a caged animals.

"I have to be more careful," She thought, "something must have messed this kid up bad."

Jack was gratefull when she sat the pills on a side table and backed away slowly, and figured it was his cue to get them himself. Before she could utter a word he reached towards the pills and took them himself. The sooner I take them, he figured, the faster she'll leave. Jack was still a little wary of the woman, she was still a stranger to him, but women didn't frighten him the way men did. They had always been kind to him, but he mostly associated them will Vanessa, who was like a mother to him.

Older men had always terrified him. They always yelled. And hit. And kicked. And yelled. And screamed at him. And hurt him. Jack had never been exposed to anything else and automatically figured that all men were like that, it was just natural for him to assume that. Thinking about Vanessa made him remember where he was headed and for the first time Jack realized he had no control. He didn't know where he was going.

He wanted to trust Vanessa, he wanted to believe that he was going somewhere good this time but Jack a learned a lesson very early in life. If you didn't hold high expectations than you would never feel let down. And Jack was determined to not be let down this time. His resolve was steeled as Vanessa led him out of the Hospital. As he sat in the car, old gray building, basketball courts and sidewalks whipped past but he didn't see them.

His resolve was steeled when the car stopped and Vanessa led him down a stone walkway to a house that would determine his future. He resolve was steeled as the door opened and Vanessa stepped aside. His resolve was shattered when he looked into the eyes of the strong women staring at him with curiosity. He expected to see hate, or annoyance, or even worse pity, but not the curiosity and kindness in those aged and worn out orbs.

He was entranced as he felt love he had never expeirenced coming from a stranger he had just met. The contact was broken as her eyes drifted down to his exposed wrists, and Jack was embarrassed. He saw the sadness in her eyes and knew he himself was the cause. How dare hurt this kind lady, how dare he cause her pain, he thought. "I don't deserve this kindness."He thought, "I am too tainted to be given love this pure"

He flinched back at the sudden contact with his shoulder, but allowed himself to be led into the home of the strange, kind a loud bang echoed outside the house and was followed by a howl of wind trying to force its way into the home. Giving up for the time being, the fall winds ceased their attack and continued on their way, stirring up leaves and unsecured clothing as they made their rounds across the bustling city of Detroit. But Jack was not afraid of the wind, or the world, or his past, or his future. Jack was not afraid of Evelyn Mercer.

"Progress" She thought, and a smile shone on her face.


End file.
